


Worth

by echoist



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-07
Updated: 2010-05-07
Packaged: 2017-10-09 08:46:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/85269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoist/pseuds/echoist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Doumeki has a conversation with the witch.  Set during episode 12 of xXxHolic: Kei.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth

        Y   
ū   
ko dabbed indelicately at the network of incisions covering Doumeki's chest and arms, sitting back on her heels when the boy snatched the towel from her hands. “I'll do that,” he muttered, his breathing shallow and labored. She had thought his usual stoicism might return once the price had been paid in full, but he still seemed unsettled by the night's events.

        “I wish I could have welcomed you to my shop,” Y   
ū   
ko offered, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere across the room. “To tell you the truth, I -” She paused, shaking her head. “I wish you had never had a reason to walk through my door.”

        Doumeki nodded, hearing what she hadn't said. “You knew I would, though. Someday.”

        Y   
ū   
ko smiled sadly. “It was inevitable, once you met Watanuki, because he had a wish of his own.”

        She rose to her feet like a crane disenchanted with the earth and all its fetters. “I would apologize for your reception this evening, but as I'm sure you know – “ She stepped lightly past him, hands unstained by the pints of blood so recently exchanged. “Your sacrifice wouldn't have been worth nearly as much without an appropriate level of pain.”

        “You speak so lightly of sacrifice,” Doumeki observed without turning, a fierce undercurrent of resentment coloring his words. “When have you ever been called upon to bear the burden of another's pain? What have you ever had to lose?”

        The witch stopped, her last footfall echoing across the empty space. “What a curious thing to say,” she mused, tilting her head to glance coolly over her shoulder at the archer. “How do you know I didn't sacrifice something dear to me long, long ago to be able to save that boy's life tonight?”

        Doumeki said nothing, listening to her footsteps die away into the stillness. He wondered what it would be like to live for centuries, the past fading into an endless cycle of action and reaction, debt and repayment, memories and things best left forgotten. Pressing the rag against an open wound to staunch the stubborn flow of blood, he decided he did not want to know.


End file.
